Celebrating Gifts

Celebrating Gifts

This Sunday we’re celebrating gifts. The word alone can mean so many things. Gifts come in a wide array of colors and types. They can be something that we have inside us that needs to be shared. They can be something that we offer to others. They can be surprises or they can be…well…gifts. We find them under the tree and Christmas and on our birthdays. We find them in the talents that are shared, like last weekend at Lazy F and here at the worship service at Aldersgate. We find them being shared by so many in this congregation, and this Sunday we’ll celebrate a bunch of them.

Jesus brought innumerable gifts to those around him. He shared fully of himself in every way and at every level. It’s why the shortest verse in scripture may also be the most powerful. Jesus shared not only healing gifts, teaching gifts, but also emotional gifts. It goes with the territory of sharing gifts. So to prepare for this Sunday please turn to the Gospel of John, chapter 11: 33 – 36.

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About Pastor Brad Beeman

Our pastor, Brad Beeman, brings a varied background to ministry. He started his first business at twenty-one and ended up building log homes over the seven years. Throughout most of those years he also worked in youth ministry. In 1989, after moving to the Bay Area and witnessing that so many of the youth in his youth groups were using drugs, he began to wonder why. Out of discussions with area parents, schools, law enforcement, businesses and religious leaders he put together a forum that became a CBS “For Kids Sake” special. It received national attention and changed the focus of Brad’s life and ministry. Brad became involved in the Bureau of Drug Abuse Services in Santa Clara, California. He then became the National Director of Community Support for Developmental Research and programs – an organization closely tied to the leading researchers in the world around what places children and youth at risk. That work led him to two Washington DC task forces; one on Parenting and Prevention, and another on International Drug Abuse and Drug Violence. That led him to a call to ministry.
While holding a cocaine-addicted baby Brad felt God’s call to serve in a place that would not only surround the addicted child with love and care, but would allow that child, the family, the community and even the world to understand the love of God and the power of transformation in Christ. Brad entered the ministry in the United Methodist Church in 1992 and has served churches in Southern California and the greater Seattle area. He has been here at Aldersgate since 2011.
Brad is married to Dorothy. They have four children. He loves all things outdoors: hiking, swimming, cycling, kayaking and continues to enjoy working with wood. He loves to draw with charcoals and pastels. He loves to teach. He and Dorothy love to sing, particularly together. All of these things combine in ministry here at Aldersgate United Methodist Church.